


Promised Land: Chapter 0

by DimensionSlip



Series: Promised Land [3]
Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Illustrated, M/M, by Jeredu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 04:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17297390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DimensionSlip/pseuds/DimensionSlip
Summary: Three words Jade Curtiss almost said, but didn't.





	Promised Land: Chapter 0

**Author's Note:**

> This piece takes place a few years before the events of _Promised Land_. In interest of spoiler prevention, it is highly recommended to read until Chapter 12 of the aforementioned before delving into this fic.

"You look like shit, man."

Seated on his bed, Peony greeted Jade with a weak grin, a mere flicker of a smile that used to be bright enough to fill a room. Yet, its sincerity still managed to shine through, even if its light felt like it may go out any moment.

"...I could say the same for yourself."

Jade returned it, but with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. Or eye for that matter, given how his right eye was covered by a dark eyepatch. Closing the door behind him, he took the empty seat by Peony's bedside, expression unreadable as his gaze fell upon Peony propped-up on his sickbed. Jade's chest was heavy as he drank in this unchanged sight. It had been a constant for three weeks now--hollowed cheeks and thin limbs and lines and creases and sharp angles that looked like they belonged to someone twice the subject's age. Still, Peony met Jade's gaze squarely, unmindful of its quiet intensity.

"Your eye's condition hasn't improved at all?" Peony asked, brows creasing in worry.

"I'm afraid not, though you need not concern yourself over that, especially when you are much worse off."

"Like hell I am."

The manner in which Peony sulked at the pointed fact was familiar, surprisingly welcome despite it being more of a mild annoyance not too long ago.

"I'm not the one who can't get up from bed," Jade replied smoothly, deciding to roll along with the tune of this casual conversation, dark as his humor is.

Peony laughed, a hearty sound which reminded Jade of the old times--at least until Peony dissolved into a hacking cough. It was more than enough for Jade to tense in his seat, about to rise and call for a doctor when Peony grabbed hold of his wrist, riding the cough out the whole while.

"--It isn't all that different from me in the mornings," he continued cheerfully, unmindful of how he just suffered from a fit that could have been deadly any other time. "Except that I do get to stay in this time around. Pretty cool, huh?"

Jade sighed, pressing his free hand to his temple as he feigned annoyance to hide the fact that he was at a loss for words. After taking a moment to gather his bearings, he exhaled before setting his hand down, sparing Peony a glance.

"Then I suppose that means you can't escape from my report."

Peony responded with a toothy grin. "Carry on, O Serious and Boring One."

Jade raised a brow, but posed no further comment, carrying on with his agenda and recounting several points regarding the virus spreading throughout the world--the Great Plague, as coined by most researchers.

"...Your Majesty."

Halfway through his report on Belkend's research progress, he paused to give Peony a look, unable to ignore Peony's expression for a moment longer. Peony did not seem to be listening at all, simply smiling at him in a manner which reinforced that possibility.

"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?"

"Yeah," Peony said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "you were talking about some sorta research on getting rid of the plague, right?"

"Incorrect. I was already talking about progress with regard to mass producing rappigs to alleviate the food shortage we are experiencing."

"...Oh."

At Peony's crestfallen expression, Jade hung his head, sighing as he took the time to push up his glasses. "It's a joke. But before I continue, may I know what else has your attention at the moment?"

"...Can't we talk about other things, Jade?" Instead of whining, Peony's smile took on a note which Jade had come to recognize as melancholic. "It seems like a waste, especially when you don't visit enough."

"I beg to differ. I visit often."

"Thrice a week isn't often enough."

Jade's stomach coiled at the sadness tinged with that protest, but his expression betrayed none of his discomfort as Peony continued, "...Allow me to be selfish this one time, okay?" A withered hand reached out for his, and Jade allowed it to drape over his, coarseness and all. "I promise to hear everything you have to say after this."

For a moment, Jade simply stared at the hand over his, and the thumb brushing lightly over his knuckles as Peony waited on a response from him.

"...As you wish."

"Good," Peony said, closing his hand around Jade's fingers, which he gave an encouraging tug. "Could you lean forward for a bit? Can't really see you that well from this angle."

Jade complied wordlessly, only for Peony to close in and press his lips against his. Taking advantage of his shock, Peony reached around him and pulled him in with surprising strength. He used his hand to press against the back of Jade's head as he kissed Jade with an urgency he had never known before. Caught in the intensity of the act, Jade found himself parting his mouth, inviting the gesture as Peony began to thread his fingers through his hair, tugging slightly as he did so.

The moment was not to last, for Jade's stomach dropped once he realized what Peony was trying to do. Jerking away from the contact reflexively, he narrowed his eyes at Peony, keeping down the twinge of betrayal he felt at the earlier gesture.

"Sorry," Peony said, not at all looking so. But he did have the audacity to look a little sheepish when he lightly wrapped his fist around the eyepatch that was in his hand. "There's something I wanted to make sure of, no matter what."

Blue met red, forlorn in its intensity as Peony set aside the eyepatch. The former softened, a dark hand reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Jade's ear before lingering and tentatively cupping his cheek. While Jade allowed it, he remained tense, the eye once hidden by the eyepatch glinting with challenge in a similar manner as its uncovered counterpart.

"...Your eyes… are as beautiful as I remember them."

Peony did not comment at all regarding the blackened skin his thumb slid past, continuing to caress Jade as if he were the most precious thing in his world that moment.

_You aren't going to chastise me for hiding this?_ Jade was almost tempted to ask, but he held back from doing so, already guessing at what Peony might say in response to that.

Jade felt that the trust people put into him and right timings were a little misplaced, but whatever the case was, he was blessed--or perhaps cursed--by people willing to take his judgment at face value. It was especially unwarranted when he could not tell if he was right or wrong for keeping this unusual development to himself. After all, it would not be the first time his gut feelings led him astray, and the last time it did, it had cost him more than a decade of foolishness and callous sin.

"I love you, Jade," Peony's eyes were bright as he continued, seemingly unseeing as he draped his hand over Jade's. "And Nephry too… and Saphir… Luke and the others... This world too…"

The smile that painted Peony's features stung more than any wound he had received in all four decades he had lived, a raw and bitter emotion leaving a gaping hole in his chest.

"I'll be counting on you to protect them, okay?"

Peony slipped his fingers in between Jade's, giving him a hopeful look which forced only one answer out of him.

"...I will," Jade said softly, gaze steady, but downcast.

"As expected of my reliable right-hand man," Peony gave Jade's hand a light squeeze, "I know I always ask a lot of you, but you're the only one I can count on for the most important of jobs."

"It's nothing new," Jade said, accompanying his words with a nonchalant shrug. "Tall orders are your specialty, after all."

"And yours is escaping, you slippery four-eyes."

Peony's retort was accompanied by a gentle shake of their intertwined hands.

Jade blinked. "...I haven't said anything at all, Peony."

Peony gave the back of his hand a slap, which came off more as a pat. "Don't underestimate the Malkuth bloodline's ability to read minds."

"I haven't heard of such a thing."

"But you're thinking of it, aren't you?"

"...Yes."

Jade pushed up his glasses with his free hand, then made a move to pick up the discarded eyepatch. While it was true that there were many duties he needed to attend to, if he were to be honest with himself, the truth was that he was unsure how much more of this... _interaction_ he could take. The longer he stayed, the more he thought he would be unable to make it out of the place in one piece--hypothetically and emotionally so, if he were forced to admit it.

"Thought so," It seemed to be something Peony knew as well without Jade voicing anything out loud, for there was a resigned note to his grin then, his grip loosening. "Next time, you should tell me more about what's going on with your eye and that black thing."

Despite the potential topic at hand, the remark drew out a smile from Jade--the comment being something more in line with the nosy Peony he remembered too well.

"I shall," Jade said as he donned the eyepatch, "though I must warn you there isn't much I know myself."

Jade rose and turned to leave, but was stopped by Peony grabbing hold of the edge of his coat.

"Wait. Could you sit down for a bit? I promise this won't take long."

Despite considering a protest and turning tail, Jade followed, sinking back into his seat. Keeping his expression carefully blank, he watched Peony pull out the bead that has always adorned his hair.

"Take it," Peony said, reaching for Jade's hand and pulling it close to his. "I need you to keep this safe for me, for a while. Until I--"

Before he could finish his sentence, Peony started coughing again. Jade didn't speak until the fit was over.

"If that's what you wish."

Jade forced himself to keep his gaze forward, if a bit downcast as he curled his fingers around Peony's hand and the bead. He could feel the familiar blue bead's weight on his palm, somehow as heavy as his chest felt then.

There was no "until" or "getting better" from this. The bead was Peony's will--a bequeathing, a physical keepsake Jade could look back to. It was proof that Peony Upala Malkuth IX once lived, and became one of Jade Curtiss' weaknesses. That outside official papers and related fanfare, Jade had earned this unconditional love he felt he did not deserve. It was warm, whole--shaped by caustic jabs, rappig names, and trust that went beyond titles…

"Thanks." Peony exhaled, grinning feebly at him.

...But as with all good things, it was also fleeting, given its short time to bloom. A realization that Jade had resigned himself to, reinforced by glimpses of Peony's sunken eyes, his face marred by disease.

"And Jade…"

"Yes?" _What else did Peony want from him…?_

"Get your eye checked if it gets bad," Peony said, his tone more serious. "Imperial decree."

A small, defeated sigh escaped Jade. "...I will."

"Then, I won't keep you," Peony said, his hand slipping away from Jade's reluctantly. "See you later, Jade. I love you."

"Very well. I…" Jade paused, considering his response to that, as with several words that came to mind.

"Is something the matter, Jade?" Peony asked, not at all masking the hope in his tone.

"Never mind," Jade said, shaking his head as he rose and turned away from Peony's disappointed expression. "I'll see you later, Peony."

* * *

Emperor Peony Upala Malkuth IX died the next day.

The next time Jade saw Peony was the latter surrounded by his namesake, garbed in ceremonial clothes he would often complain about. But it was a complaint Peony would never be able to voice out again, for dead men tell no tales, nor do they live to hear them. The latter suited Jade given the sense of foreboding he had about the blackened skin forming by his eye as with its accompanying headaches. The former left him with a strange kind of emptiness--one only matched by the hollow pit in his stomach as he followed the funeral procession for Malkuth's last emperor.

After all, there was at least one tale he had not shared to the aforementioned, as with a few choice words that would have been appropriate for their last meeting. It perhaps was a bitter twist of fate that he only found the courage to mouth them right then and there, unheard by the weeping populace around him.

Eyes downcast, he grit his teeth and wallowed in the bitterness of those words, footsteps heavy and chest tight with the knowledge that they shall remain forever unknown to their intended recipient as well.


End file.
